Enigma of the Heart
by M'Name's Raven BETCH
Summary: In Canada, an interesting Innocence has been discovered. It's power is immense, and it is of the utmost importance. Could this really be the Heart that the Order has been hunting all this time? And why does it have a particular interest in Kanda?
1. Chapter 1 Hail Mary

**_D. Gray-Man (c) Hoshino Katsura_**

**_Please read comments at the end._**

* * *

**Enigma of the Heart**

_Chapter 2_

_"Mom…"  
"…Mama…"  
"…Mother…"  
"Mommy…"  
"…Mother…"  
"…Mama…"  
"-Mama…"_

'My children…I exist for my children…'

XxX

"Baaakaaa. Wake uuuup." Allen called lazily from one side of the first class train compartment to the other, where a sleeping Kanda was sitting. They were almost at their destination. But Allen wasn't really making a big effort in waking up his 'comrade'. Really, who would want that jerk awake?

Unfortunately, Kanda, with his sharp ears and light sleeping, heard Allen and his insult, and cracked open an eye to glare at the younger. "Call me that again, _baka_ _Moyashi_, and I may just impale you." Of course. No matter how many times Kanda made these death threats, he never really followed through. He usually toned them down from murder to intensive care, and if you were lucky, you could manage to get away with a few broken bones or injuries.

Allen waved the threat away, being too utterly bored to retort. "Whatever. We're almost at the station, so you might as well wake up a bit. As soon as we get off this train we have to find that Innocence." Allen stood and went to the door with his suitcase to go to the exits so he could be one of the first off the train. "I don't want to be in this country any longer than I have to be." No matter how accepting Allen Walker seemed to be, he did have some prejudices and dislikes toward some things. Kanda Yuu being one of them, the country of Canada being another. The place was usually colder than England in the dead of winter, scarcely habited, and from what he heard, some of the first people to live there, the Indians, were very hostile to white men. And Allen was very white, right down to the hair. So he wasn't all too happy to be in Canada. Or, it could just be that he wanted to go back to the Order as soon as possible to see Lenalee, who had just gotten back from Siberia. Either one resulted in him wanting to go back to England.

Though he had to admit, the scenery here was nice.

"Are you going to go, _Moyashi_? Or just stand there all day, blocking the hall?"

Allen glanced behind him irritably to Kanda standing behind him. Yes, he had stopped in the middle of the hall to look out the window, but Kanda didn't have to be so mean about it.

"Shut up, I'm going." He said, and proceeded to the nearest exit as the train pulled up to the quickly filling train station, Timcanpy fluttering in tow.

XxX

Canada was a lot more populated than Allen thought.

People filled the snow covered cobblestone streets of St Catherine's. Women bundled in multiple layers of furs, wools, cottons and silks gossiping with each other and staring at hats inside glass-protected stores. Men filed in and out of various shops and pubs, either relaxing in a good drink or buying precious gifts for their loved ones for the upcoming holidays. Children ran around underfoot while horse-pulled carriages trotted though the throng of people. Allen was honestly very surprised. It almost reminded him of London streets, everyone was so civilized. Then he saw a red-skinned man walk past him, his old black-coloured eyes wrinkled with age and sun, squinting --- glaring, as Allen would later say --- at the sixteen year old white-haired boy. That was when Allen remembered why he did not like this England-look-alike country. And also when he pulled up his hood.

"Any idea where those finders said they'd be?" Kanda demanded in his deep Japanese accent.

"Well, if you had read the travel itinerary _before_ you had started on this little escapade, then you would know exactly where we should be." Allen replied sarcastically. Kanda always could bring out the worst in him. "But, then again, you never did read much, did you?" That earned him a glare and growl.

"One more, _Moyashi_, and you _will_ be getting it." Now the Japanese was fingering the hilt of his katana Innocence, which was gaining quite a bit of nervous glances from passers by. Allen gauged the others irritation level, as well as his own, and came to the conclusion that a little bickering right now in a busy street was not the best option. A three-day train ride can severely raise anyone's' chances of snapping from tension, Kanda especially, and the two might just end up fighting 'Innocently' ¾ as Lavi liked to call their bouts with use of Innocence. And so Allen decided to be the 'bigger' man and just find the restaurant where they were to meet their three finders. Really, three finders for two Exorcists and one Innocence. That was unreasonable.

Allen turned to the street before him. "Well, Komui said that we were supposed to meet them in a place called '_The Blue Star Restaurant_', somewhere relatively close to the station. Let's ask someone where it is." And so, a few minutes later, the two black clad teenagers had gotten helpful directions from a giddy and blushing bunch of young girls, who were more than happy to give directions and their names, it seemed. Ten minutes more of avoiding stares and sliding through crowds, they found themselves at the door of '_The Blue Star Restaurant_'. One of the great things about being with Kanda, Allen grudgingly admitted, was that they could easily cut through any crowd, and that seemed to work in Canada, too. He just had that aura around him. The kind that said 'get out of my way'.

Allen pushed past the restaurant door, which lead to more of a bar than a restaurant. He glanced nervously around the smoky and crowded dining area, almost dominated by the long bar on the left wall, filled with alcohol and drinkers alike. Allen suddenly felt a bit queasy. This place reminded him very much of where his Master used to spend all of Allen's gambling money when he was younger.

Kanda entered behind him. "Well," he said. "Where are the finders?"

Allen looked around the bar, and failed to see any yellow Black Order jackets. He shrugged in response to Kanda's question and sat at the nearest open table, which was quite close to the front window. "It seems that they are not here yet, so we should just wait. I'm hungry, too." He cleared a few breadcrumbs from the table and popped open his suitcase, taking out the information file to review through it again. Timcanpy curled himself up in in his suitcase, falling asleep among the spare clothes. Kanda sat across from him and merely leaned back in his chair.

The packet said that there was a lot of Akuma activity in this area. This was most likely caused by the presence of Innocence. According to reports, Akuma would suddenly just appear in the streets and start shooting at the crowd. Then, just as suddenly, there would be a great flash of green light and the Akuma would have just vanished. The green light could be explained by it being the Innocence fighting the Akuma. But it was odd because no one ever saw anything that could be described as Innocence. No unusual weapons or items, no odd body parts, nothing. It just seemed to come out of nowhere -

"Hello, how may I help you?" came a pleasant voice beside him. Allen jumped and looked to see a smiling young woman with two menus, a round tray, and a pad of paper and charcoal beside him. She was very good looking in his opinion. Honey blond hair pulled up into a bun, a heart-shaped face inlaid with bright blue eyes hidden behind oval reading-glasses perched on her nose. She wore a simple black skirt with a white blouse-like top that did nothing to accentuate her obviously grown-up woman's body. She was definitely curvier than Lenalee, Allen thought with a slight blush. He guessed that this woman was a waitress here.

"Ah, yes." Allen said. "Could we possibly get something to eat?"

"Of course!" she replied, and offered the menus to Allen and Kanda, who opened them and searched though the food options. Kanda, not finding anything to suit his fancy, sniffed and asked for a water with a bread basket. Allen, however, was very interested in the menu. It had a lot of different foods that he had never seen before. What on Earth was _poutine_?

"Well, umm, what would you suggest?" He asked the woman.

The woman smiled. "Everything, I would have to say, is very good. Though, might I suggest the Buffalo Steak? It is very delicious. And it comes with a side of our special _poutine_, if you wish."

Interested by this selection, Allen agreed. "Alright, I'll take two of those. And the Caesar salad, with an extra side of fries, the baked potato with butter, sour cream, and onions and extra cheese, a New York Cheesecake, blueberry pie, and a water and earl grey tea. That's it."

The waitress, obviously stunned by the amount of food ordered, wrote it all down, and took the menus, saying that she would be back soon and scuttling away to the kitchens. Kanda sniffed at the younger teen. "You do know that ordering so much food scares some people, right? It's unnatural." he said.

Allen glared back in irritation. "Of course I know it's unnatural, you moron. And you do too, last I recall. It's because of my Innocence. That and I'm still not done growing."

"Oh, yes, when are you going to get around to that? Aren't you overdue by about five years?"

"Oh, shut up!" Allen snapped back. "I'm growing! I grew three inches in the last month!"

Kanda sneered. "Really? Or was in your new shoes?"

"Just be quiet, ass-hole." Allen huffed. The two were getting enough stares as it was, they didn't need an argument to earn more.

Allen returned to his information packet, determined to ignore Kanda. And while he was doing a fair good job at that, he couldn't focus on the papers in front of him. Instead, his attention wandered to eavesdropping on other's conversations. At one table a couple were flirting. At another, grandparents were discussing which gift would be perfect for Mary-Lynn. At yet another, women with nothing better to do were gossiping about so-and-so's laughable gardening techniques. Why anyone would garden in the dead of winter, Allen did not know. But as his hearing drifted over to the bar he heard a bunch of men talking about the strange monsters who kept popping up.

"I saw one the other day, I kid you not!" said the first gruff voice. "Big, ugly lookin' things, with great cannons sticking out every which way. Just came outta no where, I swear. And just started shootin' at stuff. Everywhere! I could barely get outta the way!" The other men with him began laughing. "I swear, this is true! Almost caught my leg with one of them bullet things. And then, there was this light, A great big green light, just lit up the entire street. And then the thing was gone. Just like that!" He snapped to emphasize his words. "I dunno what happened, but it really was something else."

A second man commented on this story. "I think you've had a bit too much brandy Tom." he said laughing. "You got away from that? Those things are lethal! Kill everyone in sight!"

"I think you've been getting into the brandy!" a third man guffawed. "They don't kill everyone!" He suddenly turned serious. "But I do hear that they are getting more common. Especially around this area. We have to be careful. One guy who survived an attack said that it was his friend who morphed into one of these monsters. It could be some sort of weird witch magic or virus. If this report is true, than any one of us could start killing at any time."

"Maybe if I drank a little more we'll all stay normal." the the man named Tom said into his cup. The other two laughed and resumed making fun of their friend and his drunken ways. Allen brought his attention back to his own table. If what the men said was true, then the 'monsters' were definitely Akuma. And if they were showing up more around here, than the Innocence was close. Lucky for them.

"Did you hear that?" he whispered to Kanda. The other nodded and started picking at the tables edge.

"The information we were given proved to be right." he replied. "We have a load of Akuma on our hands. Be sure to watch for them, _Moyashi_."

Allen twitched. "Don't call me that, BaKanda." Kanda just smirked. Behind him, the door of the restaurant opened and a gust of cold wind came with it. Along with a few voices with suspicious sounding dialogue.

"Look at the time! Now we're late!" a young sounding man said. "Let's just hope that the Exorcists were held up, or it'll be our heads!"

"Don't look at me!" a childish girls voice said. "It wasn't my fault that one of us needed to get that stupid fur coat!" she accused.

"Hey, it's cold here!" said the third, also male. "And I don't want to look like a fool with an out-of-style coat. I may not get a salary, but that doesn't mean I have to look like it."

"Whatever." the first said. "Let's just wait here for now."

Allen and Kanda stared at each other as they heard this odd conversation. Had they not said 'Exorcists'? Kanda turned to the door and Allen looked over the elders' shoulder. What was revealed to them were three finders brushing snow off their uniform - and in one case fur - coats. The one who they suspected to be the first was slightly shorter than Kanda and built, with messy coffee brown hair and matching eyes. He looked barely older than seventeen. The girl with them was thin, and lithe-looking. She was just shorter than Allen and could have been the first's twin, if not for her minimal height, apparent age and pout set into her face. She was probably closer to twenty-five than seventeen. The last with the ridiculous fox fur coat was tall and burly, probably reaching seven feet. He had shocking wavy red hair and bright blue eyes. After sizing up these three characters, Allen had decided that they must be their finders for the mission. Kanda was hoping dearly that they weren't.

"Oi," Kanda called to them. The three looked up wide eyed at their beckoners, finding two teenagers and a sword decked out in black and red Black Order Exorcist colours, both bearing the rose cross upon their chests. The girl gave a little 'oh' as she realized that they were indeed the late ones. "Are you three the ones sent to help us?" Kanda continued. The three nodded and Kanda cursed silently, turning back to glare at the table.

Allen smiled at them. "Well, come sit down. We have some things to talk over." He waved a hand over the two other chairs at the table. The girl and her 'twin' sat opposite one another, while the taller man grabbed an extra chair and sat between Kanda and his male companion. At Allen's words and gesture, they looked very uncomfortable. Allen noted this. "I'm not going to berate you or anything. I just want to discuss the issue of the Innocence." At this, the three seemed to relax considerably. Though not enough to look Kanda's glare in the eye.

"I'm Allen Walker," he continued. "This is Kanda." he said, gesturing to said grouch. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

He shook hands with all three Finders. Kanda barely nodded to them all. "I'm Jon Collins." The younger boy said. "These are my fellow Finders, Jennifer Hutch and Abier LeBlanc. We will be assisting you on your mission." It was immediately obvious that Jon was a leader figure of the three. Allen was happy for that - he seemed to be the most level-headed. "Any questions you have, just ask." Jon added.

"Okay, here's a question." Kanda said rudely. "Why did Komui feel that he needed to send three Finders for two Exorcists and one Innocence?"

"Kanda!" Allen scolded. "Not so harshly, please. Not everyone is so used to your attitude."

"Well, they better get used to it." he snapped.

Allen simply ignored Mr. Rudeness. He was right, the new Finders were just going to have to get used to Kanda. But from the looks on their faces, that was going to take a while.

"He is right, though." Allen commented. "Why did the Order send three Finders for two Exorcists and one Innocence. Usually, they send only one Finder. This mission doesn't seem all that difficult."

Aiber looked a bit abashed, Jennifer started fiddling with her napkin. Jon replied again. "Well, you see, we're having some trouble...locating the exact whereabouts of the Innocence."

"You said it was in Canada, right?" Kanda asked.

"Yes."

"You said it was somewhere in St. Catherines, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then," Kanda interrupted. "It will be here. It's your jobs and ours to actually find the Innocence."

"It's not that simple." Jennifer spoke up this time.

"What do you mean?" Allen asked.

"The Innocence keeps moving, with the attacks in tow. Just when we think we have a definite location, the attacks stop where we are and we hear about them somewhere else. And the patterns of it's movement are as unpredictable as a butterfly's flight." She took a breath. "Luckily, though, a majority of the attacks seem to be in this area right now."

"So?" Kanda said. "We just wait until another attack happens and we capture the Innocence. If that's the case, you only needed one Exorcist."

"Don't you remember what was in the report?" Allen asked, getting irate with Kanda's attitude. "If the Innocence is powerful enough to evade and destroy a battalion's worth of Akuma in one flash of light, then it's powerful enough to try and fend off those who want to capture it. That's why we need two." He looked at Jon. "Right?"

The Finder nodded. "Yes, that's right."

"But why did I have to be partnered up with this _baka_?!" Kanda complained loudly. "Why not someone else who's a little more competent?!"

"Oh, so _that's_ what you're so pissy about right now? Who cares?!" Allen exclaimed. They were starting to gather stares again. Lucky for the rest of the guests, though, the Exorcists waitress hurried over with their orders, another waiter carrying the second half of Allen's 'lunch'. She set their meals before the fuming two, and turned to the other three at the table.

"I'm supposing that you are with these two?" They nodded, and the waitress beamed her best smile.  
"Well, then, may I get you anything?"

The Finder's ordered variations of Allen's meal in much smaller portions, and the waitress left again with a smile.

It was then that Allen discovered '_poutine_'.

"What is this?" he wondered aloud, poking at the gravy-and-cheese-curd-covered fries. It didn't look very appetizing.

"That's _poutine_!"Aiber answered excitedly. He had a deep voice, but sounded slightly childish, despite his appearance.

"Is it any good?" Allen inquired, spearing a gravy covered french fry with his fork. The cheese curds had long since melted under the heat of the gravy and stuck the fries together in long, gooey, white strings. He watched as the cheese strings snapped and coiled on the bottom of his fork.

"Yes!" Aiber replied. "It's amazing! It was the first thing I tried when I came to Canada. It's just perfect!"

Allen was still unsure. "If you say so." But when he took his first nibble of the strip of fried potato, he was instantly surprised. It really was good! The gravy was slightly salty, but tasted like the best gravy he had ever tried. The fries were perfectly crunchy despite, their wet condiments, and the melted cheese was delicious. In all, it was probably one of the best things he had ever tasted.

Allen noticed Aiber and the other Finder's watching him carefully, while Kanda merely bit into his bread roll, uninterested.

"Weeell?" Aiber asked, an eager grin on his face. "How do you like it?"

"It's..." He took another bite, and carefully chewed and swallowed before talking. It was rude to talk with your mouth full, you know. "It's awesome! I've never tasted anything like it!

Jennifer winked. "Welcome to Canada, Sweetie."

* * *

**So, I'm not too sure if I should be posting this or not. It's probably a bad idea, considering my updating habits. But it's a story that I've had going through my head for a while, and I'm really excited about it. As far as updating goes, I think I want to keep it where I update it every two weeks. Let's see how it goes!**

**As usual, reviews wanted, I'm always looking to improve!**

**~Raven**


	2. Chapter 2 Full of Grace

**_D. Gray-Man (c) Hoshino Katsura_**

**_Please read the comments at the end._**

* * *

**Enigma of the Heart**

_Chapter 2_

Allen had, in particular, thoroughly enjoyed his meal at the '_Blue Star Restaurant_'. The steak was tender and juicy, the french fries crunchy, the cheesecake thick and rich, and he had even ordered another serving of the _poutine_, he had liked it so much.

The three Finders were friendly and held up conversation well. Jon was the leader of the three. He was seventeen with a sick sister back home in New York. He said that that was the reason he joined the Order: They said they could help her with their sciences. Jennifer, despite her height and childish appearance, was the oldest of them. At thirty-two, she took on a motherly role in any kind of group she was in. Aiber was the goofiest of them all. Over-eager and clumsy and twenty-three years old, he did have his pluses, like how he had the best endurance of them all and could chase an Akuma at top speed for a few minutes.

And the only reason that Kanda knew this all was because they would not shut up. Even after they had all finished their food and paid the bill - putting it on the Order's tab - the five of them were stuck there because the _Moyashi_ and '_Baka_ To the Third Power' insisted on conversing so much. Kanda was about ready to snap when - thank the proverbial Lord - the _Fantastic_ Four decided to leave and find someplace they for their duration in St. Catherines. Kanda stood with the rest and huffed in relief, almost 'happy' that they were finally leaving. He gathered Mugen, his suitcase and donned his coat which he had long since shed.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Mia?" a bartender called from his station by the whiskey. He was calling to the same waitress who had served the Exorcists earlier. She smiled at the aging man as she pulled on her gloves. She had her coat and hat on, apparently intending to go home.

"Yes, yes, I will be here." she promised the bar. "What would all of you do without me?" The bar laughed, and she turned to leave. The Order members followed, only Kanda noticing who they were behind.

"Is there someplace that you guys are already staying?" _Moyashi_ asked the finders.

"Yes," said Aiber. "A little inn just down the road here. We reserved a couple extra rooms just in case, and I think that you shou-"

Just at that moment, an explosion from their right nearly blew the group over.

"Akuma!" _Moyashi_ shouted as his eye and Clown activated. The hulking forms of two level two Akuma loomed over them, their grotesque demon-horse-like features twisted into sick grins of malice and black, translucent bat-like wings spread wide. "You guys get the rest of the people out of here!" the bean ordered the Finders. They obliged, and set to evacuating the now screaming civilians.

Kanda drew Mugen. "Activate!" He was about to attack with _Moyashi_ close on his heels when he glimpsed the waitress from the bar. Her hat had been swept off her head from the gusts of the Akuma, and wisps of her honey blonde hair were being wrenched free of her bun. Her big blue eyes wide and staring with fear at the Akuma. She looked over to Kanda, and he found himself frozen in her vision.

Her eyes flashed with a brightly glowing green. Innocence green.

Then Kanda watched as many things happened nearly all at once. Time seemed to slowed down, making every detail sharp. _Moyashi_ jumped past him; The waitress watched him and screamed something that sounded like 'stop'; Her hair burst completely free and a bright green light enveloped her as she looked at the Akuma one last time; He heard _Moyashi_ shout in pain; The green around the woman grew, engulfing most of the street, and Kanda was blinded; civilians screamed, but the waitress's scream was the loudest. And the eeriest.

Then it was all done. As quickly as it had started. It was really no more than a flash of the bright green light, but so much was affected. Kanda was blinking around dark red spots in his vision, trying to clear the blotches. He barely found the shape of _Moyashi_ laying in the snow in a wounded heap. The waitress was at his head, bent over him. Kanda stood shakily on his feet - he fell down? - and stumbled over to the two. He dropped a hand heavily onto the woman's shoulder. She jumped and cried out in surprise, turning to see him in a bleary state glaring weakly at them both. He sniffed when he saw _Moyashi_, grimacing in some sort of pain as he clutched his left shoulder. His Innocence had since deactivated, and now he was just a mess of white hair and black cloth in the mussed snow.

"_Baka_." Kanda huffed. We was surprised by how feeble his voice sounded. That never happened, not even when he nearly died fighting Skin. He felt physically drained, as if that green explosion had done something to him.

_Moyashi_ just gave him something like a cross between a smile and a wince. "You would think that you would have gotten used to this by now, Kanda." he slurred.

"You'd think." Kanda repeated lamely.

The waitress was staring at the two of them with something between fear and shock. "Who are you?" She was clearly panicking.

Kanda looked at the distressing woman, raising an eyebrow as _Moyashi_ sat up, gingerly holding his shoulder. "How many times has that happened?" he asked, ignoring her question.

The woman swallowed. "A-a lot." she stuttered out. "I-I don't know what it is! Things just happen and I can't stop them no matter where I go! It-it-I-c-ca-" She broke down into quiet sobs, just as the Finders came up to them. Jennifer helped _Moyashi_ to his feet.

"Any casualties?" he asked. She shook her head.

"But you're injured." she commented. There was no blood on _Moyashi_, but he was obviously in pain. "We need to get you somewhere to tend to you."

"We have some bandages at the inn, and it's right over he-" Aiber stopped mid-sentence as he looked down the road to where the inn was. Apparently, the Akuma got to it before they could: more than half of it was blown apart. "Here." He slouched in dismay. "Aww, man! Our rooms are half-gone! Now what?!" Aiber was obviously one of those types to settle on the worst scenario rather than make a new one.

"You could board with me, if you like." came a shaking voice. It was the waitress, being helped to a standing position by Jon. She had gathered herself together, and only her shaking voice and red eyes told that she had been crying.

"With you?" _Moyashi_ asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I live at an inn just down this way." She pointed the opposite way of the destroyed inn. "We have rooms to spare. I owe you for helping me, too."

Kanda didn't know what she meant. They had barely done anything to help her. But he was in no position to argue: if she was offering them a place to stay, he would take it, seeing as he really didn't have a place to stay, now. And, hey, maybe she could offer a discount if she already lived there.

"Come on, let's go." He motioned to the Finders. "You three, try to sift through the rubble and look for your belongings. We'll meet you at the inn."

XxX

The inn was called the '_Shining Tree Inn_', and earned it's name doubly. Surrounded by silver ice-and-snow covered poplar trees, it was really quite small. Only three floors and it looked just barely double as long as it was tall. Despite the size, though, Kanda had to admit, it was quite pretty inside. The lobby was dotted with few people, and it lead into the dinning area to the right, or up stairs to the left immediately behind the front desk. It was English-styled, with dark red walls, gold guilt frames depicting the Queen, and chair-rail and banister, and silver accenting the walls in artfully spaced decorative studs of sorts and silver around the doorways. Red cushioned and not-too-comfortable-looking arm chairs with gold decorative legs and frames dotted around a gold-manteled fireplace on the left side.

From the state of the place, though, Kanda had to guess that none of the gold, silver or velvet was real, or very little of it was. The "precious metals" were tarnished, and some of it chipped in small places to reveal wood instead of actual metals. The fabrics were faded and the mantel had smudges of soot on it. But in the broad picture it was alright.

"Very pretty." _Moyashi_ commented. The woman weakly smiled her thanks, eyes still puffy from her earlier crying.

"I never introduced myself, did I?" she asked, stepping behind the desk and opening a booking log. "I'm Mia Ceil, pleasure to meet you." She stretched her hand over the desk. _Moyashi_ shook it gently with his right hand.

"My name is Allen Walker, this is my comrade, Kanda Yuu."

Mia shook Kanda's hand carefully. She had a very light grip, making it seem as if she were very fragile. "It's very nice to meet you both, Mr. Walker, Mr. Yuu."

"My last name is Kanda." Kanda ground out. He hated when people used his first name, especially like this. Damn, ignorant western people.

_Moyashi_ suppressed a giggle. Mia looked from one boy to the other, confusion written all over her face. "But, he said-"

"Japanese custom." _Moyashi_ interjected. "Their last name goes first, because it is considered disgraceful to talk to someone using their first name when they don't know them very well." _Moyashi_ smiled wider. "That, and he hates his first name."

"Do you find intense pleasure in pissing me off, _Moyashi_?" Kanda asked. His tolerance level for the idiot was depleting again.

"Only as long as you keep disregarding my real name, _BaKanda~_."

They glared at each other for a moment, and Mia grinned. "The love between you two is amazing. I never thought that two men could ever be such good friends." The boys both turned to the girl. Kanda glared daggers, _Moyashi_ was shocked. Mia still smiled, looking down into her book. "I'll just put your rooms down under 'Walker', then."

XxX

It was almost unnerving how calm Mia was after the incident with the Akuma. It made Kanda wonder how many times something like that had happened. Because even now, as the two Exorcists sat at a table in the dining room with a dozen other people, Mia was there, greeting customers and waitressing tables as if this were just a night like any other at the little inn. Even as she served the two of them, her smile never wavered. This was something Kanda deeply questioned when the dinning staff no longer needed her help.

"How many times has that happened." he barked as soon as she sat at their table. _Moyashi_ had his mouth too full to scold his rude question. His shoulder seemed to be a bit better, as he was eating with it, albeit shakily, but eating none the less.

She just stared blankly. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean the attack." Kanda elaborated. "How often has that happened. You seem pretty accustomed to it by now."

Her eyes were downcast. "I had thought that I had told you before. It happens quite a lot. I travelled around a lot until recently, trying to avoid the attacks. Until I realized that the attacks were only aimed at me. Then I just travelled to keep the attacks away from people. You know, trying to shake them off?" She shook her head. "But it never works. They always find me. I don't know what they want."

Kanda watched her for a moment, as she stared at the tablecloth. "It looks like you do know, though." he said.

She started, but calmed herself, looking at _Moyashi_ as he rolled his shoulder. "We haven't gotten any attention to your shoulder, yet, have we? Come, let's take you upstairs. I know some first aid, and I have some supplies in my room." As she took _Moyashi's_ arm and lead him into the lobby and up the stairs behind the front desk, Kanda decided that Mia did know. And she probably knew a lot.

XxX

Mia's room was simple, much simpler than the faux-extravagant guest rooms. A single bed under a small window, covered in a brown blanket, a small bureaux, two arm chairs, a hat rack and a wardrobe and shelving unit, set beside the door. The room was littered with various paraphernalia, including a few dozen books scattered about, papers and quills and inkwells, and, upon closer inspection, what looked like a fuzzy stick half stashed away under the bed. Mia offered the two chairs to her guests, and began sifting through the mess for a small, battered white box with a red cross on the front.

First thing _Moyashi_ did when he entered the room, was open his suitcase. Out of it, flew the little golden orb-thing that was Timcanpy. The thing had gotten himself locked in the suitcase. He pet the evil thing a little before setting it on his shoulder. Mia stared.

"What is that thing?" she asked, amazed.

_Moyashi_ smiled at it. "This is Timcanpy. He was my Master's before, he's like my pet now. You can pet him, if you want! Don't worry, he won't bite."

Kanda scoffed. _Moyashi_ glared. Mia didn't look to reassured. "Alright, then. Come over here, Mr. Walker." She said, opening the set and pulling out lengths of linen bandages, compresses and salves. "Take off your jacket and let's see what we can do with you're shoulder." Kanda noticed that she was not looking directly at him intentionally, instead keeping her eyes on the bandages or on _Moyashi_ as he stood.

"You don't need to call me 'Mr. Walker', you know. Just Allen's fine." he said with a smile, taking off his jacket. Mia smiled back, and nodded. "But my shoulder doesn't really hurt like it did before." he commented, unbuttoning his shirt and rolling his shoulder, forcing Tim to take flight. "After I had a bit of food, it started feeling a lot better. I don't know, I don't think I really did anything to it in that attack, either. All I knew was that it hurt a lot and I was exhausted." He stripped his shirt, revealing his blackened arm, and tattoo-like shoulder. Mia gasped at the sight. Kanda had an idea.

"What happened to your arm?" she whispered, extending a hand as if she were going to touch it, but stopping short. Maybe out of fear of the thing. It really was kind of disgusting.

"It's Innocence." Kanda told her, narrowing his glare down to her. She froze up, not willing to look at him. "People like us wield it. Exorcists. That's the type of thing that can kill those monsters we saw this afternoon. When it activates, it sends off a green flash of light, a lot of Innocence does." His glare intensified. "Much like the light we saw today."

Mia bowed her head, so that neither Exorcist could see her face. "Well, if you say that, Mr. Kanda, then it could have very well have been either of your Innocence's, right?"

Kanda glared harder. "Wrong." he said. "You have to take in the details next time, Miss. Mia. Like I said, most Innocence glows green; but that doesn't mean all of it does. My Innocence glows blue when it activates. And _Moyashi's_ Innocence was already activated when the particular light we saw flashed." She refused to look at him. It was royally pissing him off. "And there are no other registered Exorcists here than us. And you must know, Miss. Mia, that an Exorcist who isn't registered by the Order is most likely an Exorcist who can't control their Innocence with the type of power that we witnessed."

The two boys watched her for a reaction that never came. "It was you." Kanda persisted. "You have Innocence, but you don't want us to know."

They watched a small, sad grin flow onto Mia's little face. "You're very insightful, Mr. Kanda." She turned to him. "You are right. I have Innocence. But I don't call it that. She told me what she really is."

"She?" _Moyashi_ asked. "Who's she-AH!?" Suddenly, like lightning, _Moyashi's_ blackened left arm struck out to Mia's neck, as if to choke her, the impact tossing her head back and nearly throwing her flat on her back. Kanda jumped up in shock, drawing Mugen. What was going on?! _Moyashi_ would never do that!!

But just as he thought it, Mugen began to vibrate in his hand, and started pulling with an irresistible force towards Mia. It was all Kanda could do to hold onto the sword, to stay planted where he was. It was quickly turning futile, though. _The Innocence are moving on their own!_ he thought. At the same moment, both weapons activated, glowing painfully bright in the small space, a great gust of mystery wind blowing the books open, sending papers flying. Kanda watched with utter horror as Mugen activated into it's 3rd Illusion, bolts of electricity flying everywhere from it. He looked up only for a moment, to see the Crowned Clown's Edge End pressed up against the delicate neck of the girl, so tight it should have drawn blood.

But it didn't.

"_My child."_ an unreal voice spoke. It was almost like heaven itself. Thousands of years of knowledge and power, wisdom unknown echoed through it. It was beautiful, and yet horrifying all together. Just the sound of the beautiful voice made Kanda almost lose his grip on Mugen. _"I've missed you."_ Slowly, Mia's hand rose up, gently, ever so gently, touching the black back of _Moyashi_'s left hand. _"It's alright. Mother's here."_

And Crown Clown loosened it's hold. It went slack on Mia's shoulder, and _snuggled_ up to her, like a new kitten looking for the warmth of it's mother's belly. Mia pet the hand with tender care, and looked to where Kanda still struggled with Mugen, her face hidden behind windswept hair. She extended a careful hand _"Come, child. Be calm, come to Mother."_ And just like that, all of the wind died to a gentle breeze in the room, Mugen stopped pulling so hard, grew dimmer, and instead pulsed lightly, tugging slightly towards the proffered hand like a child who didn't want to leave his mother. And it occurred to Kanda: _Had Mia called _Mugen_ her child?_

Gingerly, ready to pull back if needed, Kanda allowed Mugen to tug itself to Mia, until she was petting the dull edge, pulling it close to her face. _"I've missed you, my children."_

She lifted her head slightly, and the boys saw her face, both starting at the sight. She was crying glowing white tears, and her blue eyes were green. Innocence green. Just like before.

* * *

**WAAAAAW.**

**To be honest, I'm really scared with how this story will turn out. I want to stay up-to-date with the updating this, but I'm afraid that in trying to do that, the chapters will end up sloppy.**

**And, I'm really scared that I won't be able to write it out as I want it to look. This is a plot that I have been wanting to do for a long time, and the storyline is very near and dear to my heart. If I can't get it to work what will I do?!**

**I'll cry, that's what.**

**I might do character studies for the OC's later on. I dunno.**

**And I love long chapters. ;) Just remember that.**

**Well, anywho, I hope you guys liked this chapter. Again, reviews and critiques are love~**

**~Raven**


	3. Chapter 3

OH, GAWD, I SARREH! D8

Even though I'm not here anymore you people still put a watch and favourite this story in hopes of my inevitable return. YOU'RE SO AWESOME! DXXX

So, I'm gonna make a pact! I will re-read(because I forget where I was |D) the story, and TRY to post chapter 3! 8D YAAY!

If you think this attempt is futile, please say so now ||OTL

Thanks for the love~

~Raven


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